Investigation of antihypothalamus and antipituitary antibodies in amateur boxers: is chronic repetitive head trauma-induced pituitary dysfunction associated with autoimmunity?

Tanriverdi, Fatih; De Bellis, Annamaria; Battaglia, Marco; Bellastella, Giuseppe; Bizzarro, Antonio; Sinisi, Antonio A.; Bellastella, Antonio; Unluhizarci, Kursad; Selcuklu, A.; Casanueva, Felipe F.; Kelestimur, Fahrettin

doi:10.1530/EJE-09-1024

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Investigation of antihypothalamus and antipituitary antibodies in amateur boxers: is chronic repetitive head trauma-induced pituitary dysfunction associated with autoimmunity?
Citation	Tanriverdi F, De Bellis A, Battaglia M, Bellastella G, Bizzarro A, Sinisi A, Bellastella A, Unluhizarci K, Selcuklu A, Casanueva F, Kelestimur F. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 2010; 162(5): 861-867.
Affiliation	F Tanriverdi, Endocrinology, Erciyes University Medical School,, Kayseri, Turkey.
Copyright	(Copyright © 2010, BioScientifica)
DOI	10.1530/EJE-09-1024
PMID	20176736
Abstract	Objective Current data clearly demonstrated that sports related chronic repetitive head trauma due to boxing might results in hypopituitarism. However the mechanism of sports related traumatic brain injury (TBI) induced pituitary dysfunction is still unclear. In order to understand whether autoimmune mechanisms could play a role in the pituitary dysfunction due to sports related head trauma, we investigated the presence of antipituitary antibodies (APA) and antihypothalamus antibodies (AHA) in amateur boxers. Patients and Design Sixty-one actively competing (n=44) or retired (n= 17) male boxers (mean age, 26 yr; range, 17-53) who had been evaluated regarding pituitary functions previously. In all boxers and in 60 age/sex similar normal controls AHA and APA were investigated by an indirect immunofluorescence method. Results AHA were detected in 13 out of 61 boxers (21.3%), and APA were detected in 14 out of 61 boxers (22.9%), but none of the normal controls. Pituitary dysfunction was significantly higher in AHA positive boxers (46.2 %) when compared with AHA negative (10.4 %) boxers (P=0.003). There was a significant association between AHA positivity and hypopituitarism due to boxing (odds ratio: 7.37, 95 % CI 1.8-30.8). There was not any significant association between APA positivity and hypopituitarism. Conclusions This study demonstrates for the first time the presence of AHA and APA in boxers who exposed to sports related head trauma. Moreover present investigation provides preliminary evidence that AHA are associated with the development of pituitary dysfunction in boxers, thus suggesting that autoimmunity may have a role in the pathogenesis. Language: en